Collapsible play pool



Feb. 17, 1953 E. c. WALLACE El AL COLLAPSIBLE PLAY POOL 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed May 9, 1951 Y m a H WM 9 WM w l f aw Y B Feb. 17, 1953 v c, W A ET AL 2,628,364"= COLLAPSIBLE PLAY POOL Filed May 9, 1951 2 Sl-lEETS-Sl-EET 2 INVENTORF Earl c. VVal/qce damesl'leehn d M. mm

A waiver Patented Feb. 17, 1953 ATENT OFFICE GOLLAPSIBLE PLAY POOL Earl C. Wallace, Andrews, and James Meekin, Jr., Huntington, Ind., assignors to The Hettrick Manufacturing Company, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application May 9, 1951, Serial No. 225,402

1 Claim.

This invention relates to play pools, but more particularly to portable outdoor play or swimming pools in which a foldable container of waterproof canvas or the like is supported by posts, and an object is to produce a new and improved. structure of this character which can be readily and conveniently folded to position of use or collapsed into a relatively small package for storage or shipment.

Another object is to produce a collapsible play pool of the above character having the new and improved features of construction and arrangement hereinafter described.

Embodiments of the invention are shown by way of illustration but not of limitation, in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a top perspective View of the play pool in position of use;

Figure 2 is a top perspective view of the play pool in its folded or compacted position;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary View showing one of the hinge connections;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary top plan view of the hinge connection shown in Figure 3 in its partly collapsed position;

Figure 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view on the line 55 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 66 of Figure 1;

Figure 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view on the line 'I-'I of Figure 1;

Figure 8 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 38 of Figure 2;

Figure 9 is a composite view showing different views of the hinge which connects the post sections; and

Figure 10 is a fragmentary sectional View of an alternate form of hinge joint between the side rails employing metallic tubing for the side rails instead of the wooden rails embodied in the other form of the invention.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention comprises a waterproof canvas play pool having a receptacle I0 of the waterproof canvas sheet material, opposite sides of which are attached to vertically disposed elongate rails II, the free edges of the material being clamped between the upper edge of the rail II and a horizontal seat panel I2 which projects over the canvas receptacle Ill, as shown. Each of the opposite sides are similarly provided with the vertically disposed rails I I and the wooden seat panel I2.

The edge portion of the canvas on the other two sides is folded up over and thence down and under a vertical rail I3, fasteners I4 such as tacks, securing the free edge portion of the canvas material to the under side of the rail I3. It will be observed that each of the rails I3 is divided in the middle and connected by a hinge joint I5 which consists of a pair of flanged hinge members I51; and I5b, the latter being connected by screws I3 and the hinge member l5c being connected by a bolt and nut assembly I! to the adjacent rail section I3. The two hinge parts are connected by a pintle I8 intermediate the ends of the hinge part I5a. The hinge part I5a overlaps both rail sections in position of use, there being apertures I9 and 20 in the hinge part and the overlapped rail section respectively so that a pin 2I can be inserted therethrough to securely hold the parts in the desired position. The adjacent ends of the rail sections have a tongue and groove connection 22 to afford rigidity and the desired continuous connection between these parts.

The corners of the frame are made up of hingedly connected post members 23 and 24, each of which is triangular in cross section so that when placed together in abutting relation, a post is provided rectilinear in cross section (Figure '7) The adjacent rails II and I3 have reduced ends which fit into sockets in the respective post sections and suitably glued or otherwise fixed in position. A hinge 25 on the inner side of the post sections 23 and 24 provides a permanent hinge connection between these parts and enables them to fold to the position shown in Figure 8 when the frame is fully collapsed with the seat panels I2 moved toward each other in abutting relation as shown in Figure 2. Thus by removing the look pins 2I on each of the hinges I5, the side rails I3 are swung inwardly causing the post sections 24 to swing about their hinges 25 so that the inner faces of the post sections are in alignment and the rail sections I3 in parallel position. It will be understood that the dimensions of the frame are such that upon collapsing, the rail sections I3 of the two sides substantially abut each other with the seat panels I 2 providing a cover for the folded assembly.

The detail structure of the hinge 25 is illustrated on Figure 9. Each hinge 25 comprises an upper plate 25a which is connected by screws to a post section 23 and a lower plate 2511 which is connected by screws to the post section 24. The hinge parts 25a and 25b have integral outwardly bent ears or tabs 250 which are in superposed abutting relation and through these ears extend an angle rivet 25c which constitutes the pintle for the hinge. This provides an exceedingly inex- 3 pensive hinge which can be conveniently installed and occupies a minimum of space.

In Figure 10, an alternate form of hinge connection is provided and instead of wooden rails 13 being employed, tubular rails 13' are employed and over which the adjacent edge portions of the canvas body are folded and secured. The rail sections are connected by a link 26 and slidable thereover is an elongate sleeve 2? which can he slid to a position over the link connection 25, thereby to hold the rail sections I3 in alignment or position of use, the same being held in such position by a pin 28 slipped through registering apertures. When it is desired to collapse the structure, the pin 28 is removed and the sleeve is slid to the broken line position shown in Figure 10.

It is to be understood that numerous changes in details of construction, arrangement and operation may be efiected without departing from the spirit of the invention especially as defined in the appended claim.

What we claim is:

A play pool comprising a waterproof canvas receptacle, a collapsible frame for said receptacle, said frame comprising a pair of oppositely arranged side rails, a seat panel connected to the top of each of said side rails, a two-part corner post, means for rigidly connecting the ends of said side rails to one part Of the adjacent corner posts the respective ends of said seat panels resting on the said one part of said corner posts, a hinge connection between the parts of each corner post, a pair of oppositely arranged two-part rails, means for connecting the outer ends of the last rails to the adjacent other part of said corher posts respectively, and a breakable connection between the inner ends of the parts of said last rails to enable the two-part of each rail to be swung about said hinge connections toward each other for collapsing the frame, said seat panels being substantially wider than said side rails and overhanging the inner sides thereof, the outer ends of said two part rails being connected to said other parts of said two-part posts below the level of the underside of said seat panels whereby, when said frame is collapsed, the opposite inner edges of said seat panels meet and overlie a recess for the in-folded two-part rails.

EARL C. WALLACE.

JAMES MEEKIN, J R.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 169,471 Parker Nov. 2, 1875 314,752 Throckmorton Mar. 31, 1885 965,194 Karbiner July 26, 1910 1,047,449 Russ Dec. 17, 1912 1,340,694 Winget May 18, 1920 1,742,313 Hooper Jan, 7, 1930 2,483,789 Smith et al. Oct. 4, 19 19 2,546,323 Taylor Mar. 27, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 3,700 Great Britain June 13, 1907 253,596 Switzerland Nov. 16, 1948 

